Recession Briefing 8.25

Cities nationwide have been logging fewer traffic fatalities since the current recession officially started in December 2007
, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (
Arizona Republic
)

Beginning late this fall, a new Cash-for-Clunkers-type program will authorize rebates of $50 to $200 for purchases of high-efficiency household appliances.
(
BusinessWeek
)

After spawning legions of victims,
the recession is forging a class of winners.
Downturns “are very fertile fields of opportunity,” says Nancy Koehn, a business historian and professor at Harvard Business School. (
Wall Street Journal
)

The signs are growing that there’s a new Wall Street gold rush under way - for the same complex bundles of mortgage loans that fueled banks’ profits between 2005 and 2007.
(
The Big Money
)

Rhode Island will shut down its state government for 12 days and hopes to trim millions of dollars in funding for local governments
to balance a budget hammered by surging unemployment and plummeting tax revenue. (
Associated Press
)

The Obama Aministration will issue national debt numbers today that show federal debt rising by $9 trillion over the next decade
- significantly higher than the forecast earlier this year. (
Financial Times
)

Brian Wingfield writes that
President Obama’s decision to retain Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chairman sends a message that he doesn’t think the crisis is over.
(
Forbes
)

The U.S. government’s popular “Cash for Clunkers” program officially ended last night, and auto dealers across the country are now bracing for a hangover.
(
Washington Post
)

The Federal Reserve must for the first time identify the companies in its emergency lending programs
after losing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. (
Bloomberg
)